'Nightmare' in Englewood: Friends shot to death in driveway

On July 9, 2011, Demitrius Chrystal, 23, and Jeffrey Butler, 19, were killed in a double homicide in the Englewood neighborhood.

They were shot around 2 a.m. in a vehicle and their bodies lay outside Demitrius' mother's home in the 6900 block of South Stewart Avenue for more than four hours before they were discovered by a man walking through the neighborhood.

Their cases have not been solved and join the scores of other unsolved murder cases from 2011.

Their mothers say they can't begin to heal until justice is served.

On Saturday, Debra Chrystal and Debra Butler-Cureton marched with family members and supporters through the Englewood community to remind people of their sons' murders and ask witnesses to come forward.

On Tuesday, a memorial service will be held at Englewood's St. John Evangelist Missionary Baptist Church.

Here's an edited excerpt of what Chrystal and Butler-Cureton told me they hope to convey, in their own words:

I am Debra Chrystal and I am desperate for justice. On July 9, 2011, my worst nightmare happened when my beloved son Demitrius was found dead in my driveway, seated on the passenger's side of his friend's car. The very home that has existed in my family since the 1950s became his murder site.

Family members have been trying to get me to move. But I can't because I feel like I would be abandoning the case. I also feel like my son's spirit is still here.

I have so many questions about what happened and who murdered my son. I loved Demitrius and no words can explain the pain that his murder has caused me. Nothing in life will ever look, feel or sound the same to me. I have been in poor health for years, and this tragedy has taken the little strength I had left. I continue to have many sleepless nights and unyielding heartache.

Demitrius and I shared a special bond. I know a lot of mothers say that their sons are good kids, but I was blessed and never had any problems out of him. He worked full time at a grocery store. He helped me administer my medications.

Every time I hear about another young person who's been murdered, it saddens me as I think about their parents. I hear many people say that they can't imagine this type of pain and grief. I hate that what other people can't imagine is my reality. I am yet another Chicago mother who's had to bury her child because of gun violence.

My family and I have made several phone calls to the Chicago Police Department and have attended community meetings on gun violence. During one meeting last March at St. Sabina Church, police Superintendent Garry McCarthy promised families with unsolved murder cases that they would have an opportunity to meet with the police to get updates on their cases.

We have not had any such meeting and believe the investigation has stalled. I understand that the Chicago Police Department may consider my son's case one of many. But to me, he was my one and only, my heart, my everything.

This is not just about the police. There are residents who live in my community who know what happened. I pray that God gives them the strength to speak up.

My name is Debra Butler-Cureton. I am a mother who grieves every day over the loss of her son, Jeffrey X. Butler Jr. He was 19 years old when he was killed. He had been an honors student at Simeon Career Academy and was working to save up for college.

He had a job as an aide caring for disabled people at a social services agency, and he was a new father.

As he was growing up, we called him Jay and he was a lovable child. Anything I asked him to do, he never hesitated. He couldn't say "no" to anybody who needed him. He worked the overnight shift and he would leave the job at 6 a.m. and then come home and drive his two little brothers to school every day.

He was always available when I needed him. He didn't hang out on the streets.

I am in therapy because I can't accept that he's gone. Two years later, I'm still angry. Sometimes all of this feels like a dream, a nightmare. I want my son back, and it hurts every day. On Aug. 17, he would have turned 22.

When the police returned his truck to us, his money was still on the front seat, so we believe that whoever murdered him wasn't after money. We believe Jeffrey was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In honor of my son, I've formed the nonprofit JXB Against Senseless Violence Foundation. I would like to build a community center to help keep children in Englewood off the streets. Some of them would be boys and girls that my son mentored.

We know there are witnesses who saw what happened but are afraid to come forward. All I can say is, 'Suppose this was your child. What would you do?'"

We must stop the silence. That's all I'm saying. Stop the silence. Come forward and help our family get justice and find peace.

Anyone with information regarding the killings of Demitrius Chrystal and Jeffrey Butler can call Area South detectives at 312-747-8272. You may do so anonymously.